Rapid drug screen cost in New Orleans, LA
In New Orleans-Metairie, LA, 5 hospitals list a cash price for rapid drug screen read by eye (cup, dipstick or card), per day: from $8.00 to $26.19, with a median of $9.92. The lowest listed price is at New Orleans East Hospital — $1.92 less than the median here. Across Louisiana, the median is $18.70 at 8 hospitals.
Cash prices at 5 facilities across 2 cities for code 80305, as an outpatient — the setting a self-pay patient normally buys. Collected Sep 23, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Jun 24, 2026 and Jul 1, 2026.
Where each hospital's price falls
Each dot is one hospital's cash price on a scale from the lowest to the highest in New Orleans-Metairie, LA.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list | File date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Orleans East Hospital lowest New Orleans, LA · (504) 592-6600 Testing for Presence of Drug | $8.00 | $50.00 | $12.60–$50.00 | 84% | Jun 24, 2026 source file |
| Touro Infirmary New Orleans, LA · (504) 897-8247 Testing for Presence of Drug | $8.26 | $59.00 | $10.99–$8.98 | 86% | Jul 1, 2026 source file |
| West Jefferson Medical Center Marrero, LA · (504) 347-5511 Testing for Presence of Drug | $9.92 | $62.00 | $11.95–$62.00 | 84% | Jun 30, 2026 source file |
| University Med Center New Orleans, LA · (504) 702-3000 Testing for Presence of Drug | $21.56 | $98.00 | $11.34–$98.00 | 78% | Jul 1, 2026 source file |
| Childrens Hospital New Orleans, LA · (504) 899-9511 Testing for Presence of Drug | $26.19 | $97.00 | $12.11–$97.00 | 73% | Jun 24, 2026 source file |
Outpatient: lowest $8.00, median $9.92, highest $26.19 — a 3.3× difference within the same market.
Cash or insurance?
At 5 of 5 hospitals that publish insurer rates for this code here, the cash price is below the highest rate a health plan has negotiated, and at 3 it is below every plan's rate. If you have insurance but have not met your deductible, you usually pay your plan's negotiated rate, which falls somewhere in the "Insurers pay" column. Paying cash can cost less, but a cash payment usually does not count toward your deductible. Ask the hospital for both numbers before you book.
What it is
This code covers a quick drug screen, such as a urine cup, dipstick or card, where the result is read by eye. It gives presumptive results for classes of drugs and is used in clinics, emergency departments and for some employment testing.
What the price covers
The price usually covers the screen for all drug classes on the device, billed once per day. Confirmation testing of a positive result and any formal chain-of-custody collection are billed separately.
7 rows held back from this comparison
They are priced below $1 or below a tenth of the national median for code 80305 ($53.55). Such a line is almost always a physician's fee billed separately, an assistant's share or a placeholder — a real charge, but not the price of the procedure itself.
| Lakeside Hospital Metairie, LAEjgh Ohs Urine Drug Test | $2.94 | file |
| Lakeside Hospital Metairie, LATesting for Presence of Drug | $2.94 | file |
| Tulane Medical Center New Orleans, LAEjgh Ohs Urine Drug Test | $2.94 | file |
| Tulane Medical Center New Orleans, LATesting for Presence of Drug | $2.94 | file |
| East Jefferson General Hospital Metairie, LAEjgh Ohs Urine Drug Test | $2.94 | file |
| East Jefferson General Hospital Metairie, LATesting for Presence of Drug | $2.94 | file |
| West Jefferson Medical Center Marrero, LAEjgh Ohs Urine Drug Test | $3.36 | file |